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Taking a proactive approach to your health care

The best way to improve your health is by taking a proactive approach – at home, this means you are getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, managing stress and maintaining a healthy diet. But there are other ways to take action to stay well. Periodic medical checkups help you manage chronic health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, get proper screening for cancer and other diseases and find mental and physical health supports and resources. Recently, a Calgary clinic…
 

Blue Monday: mental health support is available

The start of a new year can be a challenging transition following the holiday season as social calendars quiet down, bills arrive and long winter nights continue to bring chilly temperatures. These factors and others associated with the post-holiday letdown can trigger heavy feelings of sadness, despair, uncertainty and discouragement. If you’re feeling this way, chances are you are not alone. It’s a difficult time for many and mental health issues are said to culminate on the third Mo…
 

Almond, oat, coconut – which is the best alternative to cow’s milk?

When you get a craving for a tall, ice-cold glass of milk, but have a dairy milk allergy, intolerance or diet restriction, what do you do? Many people face this problem. Thanks to the rising popularity of plant-based beverages, there are endless options to choose from at the grocery store. To help navigate the growing options, a team of registered dietitians at Calgary Foothills PCN recently rose to the challenge, setting out to find the most delicious and nutritionally balanced, plant-based …

Calgary Foothills PCN to run both in-person and virtual workshops

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Calgary Foothills PCN moved to offer our free workshops online to support your health needs. With health restrictions now lifted, the PCN is preparing to offer in-person workshops again as well as virtual. Each workshop will rotate between the two formats to accommodate various learning preferences and patient locations. Upcoming in-person workshops This fall, several in-person workshops are being re-introduced. See dates and times below: Happiness Bas…

Foothills Primary Care Centre changes

As of April 1, 2023, Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network no longer manages the Foothills Primary Care Centre. The family physicians at the clinic manage their own clinic —  Foothills Primary Care. Phone: 403-221-9340 Fax: 403-221-9336 The clinic will operate in the current space until June. Monday, June 26 will be the first day the physicians will be seeing patients in their new space, located in Unit #335, 3917 University Ave NW. All the physicians currently at the clinic — ap…
 

Stretch at your office desk

If you have a desk job, you know it is easy to spend six or more hours sitting per workday – and yes, your commute counts as sitting time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a sedentary lifestyle can lead to poor health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and death from those or other causes. Carving out time for exercise and movement is the best defence against sitting’s negative impacts. While not everyone can squeeze in a midday exercis…
 

Cost-saving tips for healthy eating

According to Statistics Canada, the food inflation rate rose 8.7% in the last year. Skyrocketing food costs make it tough to shop for groceries and budget healthy food into our diets. Calgary Foothills PCN dietitians can teach you how to stretch your meals – from spending less on nutritious food to getting creative with leftovers. Try their money-saving tips to plan nutritious meals and snacks without breaking the bank. 1) Create a grocery list and set a budget Buying only what is on …
 

Top tips for healthy eating

Try these tips to start or maintain a healthy approach to eating. 1. Plan ahead. Think about your meals and snacks in advance to avoid multiple trips to the grocery store. Try using a Weekly Menu Planner. These plans can be kept for future use. For helpful meal planning tips, see "Meal Planning." Create balanced meals: 1/2 plate vegetables and fruit, 1/4 plate protein, 1/4 plate whole grains. Balanced snacks include fibre and protein, such as apple and peanut butter or whole grain cr…

Looking for a new way of eating?

New year’s resolutions often include weight loss and diet goals. While lots of diets and supplements claim rapid and prolonged weight loss, “quick” and “easy” don’t really work. Instead, goals for making healthy lifestyle changes are often more sustainable. Instead of restrictions, they add items in. We encourage you to make healthy eating choices to help achieve your goals – and sustain them. Take this quick quiz to learn more:   Want to learn …
 

Have COVID-19? These resources can help

Testing positive for COVID-19 can be scary.   Alberta College of Family Physicians, Alberta Medical Association and Primary Care Networks have created a guide to help navigate next steps. Some COVID-19 symptoms can be managed at home and others need medical assistance. This simple red-amber-green chart helps you understand when you can care for yourself or family member at home and when you need to seek further medical attention from your doctor or emergency.   There…

More options for patients to communicate to family doctors as secure-email project expands

Patients looking for more flexibility in how they connect with their family doctor have another tool at their disposal as the Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network is rolling out a network-wide secure email program for its member physicians. Privacy legislation protects confidential health information. As conventional email doesn’t meet regulations, patients, doctors and clinic staff are left to rely on phone calls and snail mail. With support from Alberta Innovates and its ImplementAB.di…
 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Workshop

April is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month which recognizes the 13 - 20% of Canadians (approximately 5 - 7.5 million individuals) who are living with IBS. To meet a need identified within the PCN's patient population, we have expanded the virtual workshops to now include a session focused on managing irritable bowel syndrome. This free two-hour long session, which starts in May, will focus on: Understanding personal and common triggers The brain-gut connection How IBS is diagn…
 

Answering your COVID-19 vaccine questions

With the COVID-19 vaccination programs underway in Alberta, it’s important to stay informed and ask questions. There is a lot of communication out there about the COVID-19 vaccines – some good and some bad. It’s critical to have the correct information about the vaccines so you can make an informed choice when it comes to getting vaccinated. Here are fact-based answers to some of the questions being circulated about the COVID-19 vaccines: Question: Does the COVID vaccine causes infe…

Cochrane Primary Care Centre to close

Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network has made the difficult decision to close its Cochrane Primary Care Centre. The changing environment, including the pandemic, resulted in the PCN having to make the decision to close this medical clinic within the next nine months. “This is not a decision we wanted to have to make,” says Calgary Foothills PCN Executive Director Darren Caines. “The financial impact of the pandemic combined with the departure of physicians meant the business model…
 

March is nutrition month

Nutrition Month is a good time to remember eating a well-balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health. The COVID-19 pandemic had made good nutrition more challenging to many because of reduced income or changes in routines due to physical distancing. Here are some resources to help: Top tips for eating healthy during the COVID pandemic Buying groceries on a budget Making food last longer by using leftovers Top five tips for planning your meals Calgary Foothills PC…